He said the documents were scanned and sent to officials at Interpol, but none of the Iraqis were suspected of links to terrorism.

Lujan, who headed the operation, said the suspects were linked to three other Iraqis who were arrested last month at Lima's international airport with false German passports and plane tickets to Los Angeles.

It was not immediately clear whether they were Iraqi Chaldean Christians, who frequently try to enter the U.S., claiming they face persecution in Iraq. California is home to a sizable Chaldean community.